


Back and Double Down

by moon_hedgehog



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, First Kiss kinda, Lily is definitely a shipper, M/M, Mild Blood, Road Trips, Sebastian still swears a lot, accidental murder, light fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 23:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13669305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_hedgehog/pseuds/moon_hedgehog
Summary: Actually, Sebastian tried to teach Stefano self-defense. Just now he has to deal with the consequences.





	Back and Double Down

**Author's Note:**

> the second part of "We Can Work It Out" or smth.  
> _  
> The Offspring - Slim Pickens does the right thing and rides the bomb to hell

No matter how hard Seb tried to drive away these wicked thoughts, Stefano still looked like a kitten. With unnaturally disheveled hair, a black headband with cat's ears and a lost, almost pitiful glance. His lips were squeezed into a thin line, nose wrinkled, he was swaying from side to side – and in general, he would've been priceless like that. It was only that in his left hand he held a long kitchen knife, from which a thick, crimson blood dripped onto the tile, decorating the floor of the eatery with patterns and spots. Sebastian mentally slapped himself on the forehead and absolutely non-mentally sighed.

 

Got to say, the first month of their trip was pretty nice. Almost with the same niceness, they rolled by the second. On the third, Stefano became less talkative and more quick-tempered. He stopped photographing the amazing desert landscapes around, listlessly evaluated Lily's drawings, and once even snapped at the girl while she was persistently trying to put on him another wreath. For this action he was kicked out of the car to a gas station; though gnawing with guilt conscience and not lagging behind Lily (who forgave the psychopath as soon as he left the car) didn't let Sebastian leave him there for a long time. Not that he was going to leave him _at all_. However, these thoughts the newly-made father had tried to actively suppress.

The reason for such strange behavior did not force itself to wait. In one of the tiny towns – where they usually stayed for a week – Lily had made all three go to the cinema. The town was apparently quite neglected – from cartoons only some kind of multi-colored musical about ponies; so rightly deciding that those who have survived STEM are already can't be afraid of anything, Seb bought tickets on an 18+ horror movie. And, to tell the truth, the only one who was trembling unmanly during the session was he himself – Lily was crunching popcorn and thoughtfully contemplating the action, Stefano was looking away with an absent glance to nowhere. And the first Seb's omission was that he didn't look to nowhere with him. After the viewing, the photographer jumped to this nowhere, leaving the former detective to curse him in every way, searching with his daughter under the armpit. The offer to return to the hotel and spit on this idiot the inflamed Castellanos' brain had rejected immediately. The one-eyed psychopath was now his responsibility. The one-eyed psychopath was now _his_. _Fuck_.

In five minutes, Sebastian ran around the whole cinema, and if Lily hadn't noticed the familiar silhouette in the distance, he would've spent another five minutes on this action. But turning the corner in this direction, the former detective really found Stefano. Well, not alone. Well, with a knife behind and a giggling girl in front.

“Valentini!” bellowed Seb, with one leap facing the company and closing the unsuspecting victim with his body.

Stefano immediately changed in the face. Predatory anticipation in his one and only eye disappeared, giving way to familiar calm melancholy. With an imperceptible movement, he plugged a knife to his belt and looked away just like a naughty kitten. Castellanos grumbled and pushed him to the exit from the cinema, where the men were waiting by Lily.

“Are you out of your mind?” Sebastian hissed, vainly trying not to raise his voice.

Stefano turned away, for that deserving a frown behind his back. Why even Seb did let him get in touch with them? He knew, he knew that sooner or later he would return to old habits! And no, the fact that Valentini snatched his daughter from the clutches of Theodore means nothing! Nothing at all!

“Why did you even stop, could've finished me off with your new “picture”, whatever,” half-roared, half-hissed Sebastian, shuffling his boots on the asphalt and densely wrapping himself in his cloak. Every corner looked like a monster from the new-watched movie. And how did Lily watch it so calmly?

“You're not like them.”

It was not a voice – almost a rustle, after which Stefano had speeded up his step and disappeared into their hotel, shining with a blue neon sign. Sebastian, on the other hand, stumbled and stopped abruptly. Either after STEM his ears began to badly suffer timbres, or the psychopath really uttered all this bullshit… with a note of respect?

Seb glanced at Lily, but only received her “dad, you're specially dumb or just pretending?” look in response. And no, he didn't know what to answer.

 

All this did not prevent the fact that week had passed, they stopped at a tiny roadside eatery, left Stefano to buy everybody a couple of donuts; and now Seb was standing near the bloodied waitresses corpse, not having a _damn_ what to do next. In old times, he would, like a decent detective, attack the killer with the growling of a formidable wolf, pulling the handcuffs on his wrists and poking his face to the floor. Now he was only thinking about where to hide the corpse more unobtrusively. God, how far he had gone?

“What, the fuck, has happened here?” The question had sounded like a thunder in the frozen air.

The photographer blinked, looking like only now fully realizing the whole situation. The knife fell out of his hand, banging on the tile, unpleasantly cutting Sebastian's ears. Valentini stared at his victim, then threw a glance at Seb, then at the girl again, then again, and again, and again… Till Sebastian was bored and hadn't grabbed his wrist.

“Earth to Valentini, fuck! What the heck happened?”

Stefano shuddered noticeably, and Sebastian loosened his grip. Wait, was he _trembling_? This strange psycho-cat trembling? No, these puzzles didn't add up in the worldview of the detective at all.

And the psychotic cat, meanwhile, lunged his hand easily and bit his lip, still keeping his eyes on the corpse.

“She attacked me...” he bleated finally, cautiously touching the girl's skirt with the toe of his boot.

Castellanos raised an eyebrow skeptically and snorted sarcastically. It didn't help – his companion remained serious as an impending retribution of STEM.

“You're lying.”

In response, Stefano gave him a completely fierce glance – as in the good-old days, when they were still enemies (well, or at least _not-friends_ ). Not that Seb believed in it straight and at once. But he approached the body closer. Squatted down, he turned the waitress on his back and wrinkled his nose as blood from her ripped throat poured over his fingers. Nothing he hadn't seen before, but still shitty. In her right hand, the girl was clutching the same knife that Valentini had dropped. Sebastian bit his lip. Well, damn.

“And why she, on you, like that...”

Stefano shrugged – he was still shaking lightly.

“Felt something?..” he replied languidly, avoiding eye contact with both Seb and the corpse.

“For example?” Sebastian harrumphed. “Felt that you want to kill her and decided to try first?”

The photographer gritted his teeth, and Castellanos amazed at how distinctly this sound imprinted in the air of the eatery.

“I was not wanted to kill her,” he said hoarsely. “I walked over, she was reading something on her phone, and then he looked at me and… lashed out.”

 _Sick bitch!_  - Thought Seb, dazed at this thought and stood up. The phone was found lying by the cash register, on the black screen clearly visible dirty stains. The detective frowned and picked it up neatly, pressing the start button. There was no password. The first opened page instantly highlighted the Internet instruction of “one thousand and one way to kill people long and slow”, well, or something like that. Seb didn't go further. The lady was obviously crazy. Perhaps in California everyone was like that.

However, what did Sebastian Castellanos say about self-defense? Now it had backfired him.

 

“Someone's coming here.”

Hearing Valentini's quiet voice, Sebastian twitched and cursed faintly. For half an hour he had been trying (unsuccessfully) to make the murder of the girl look like a suicide – well, what other way he had? Cops were not an option – Seb still paranoid that the remnants of the Mobius could track down and catch them. Leaving her like this was also somehow wrong. And leaving too many clues – probably bringing on their heads more trouble. In general, while the brains and hands of the former detective were trying to bring suspicion to the main culprit of everything that happened, the door of the eatery really opened. With one jump, Sebastian moved to Stefano and pushed him to the door of the pantry.

“Go, you're the waiter today.”

“Me?!” the indignation in this voice would have been much greater if Seb hadn't prudently closed Valentini's mouth with his palm, shushing him and glancing at the one who entered through the aperture in the door.

“And we have other options?” he growled. “It's a stones throw from the town, this dude must be local, and if he'll sniff something, consider us – you! - dead!”

“Yes, and if I go out to him, he won't “sniff” that something's not right,” Stefano hissed back, his hair almost bristling like of the real cat.

Sebastian glanced at this hair – tightened with a headband, - patched eye and muttered:

“Don't worry, your charm will play its part.”

The silence hung in the storeroom. After a few seconds, Valentini mutely turned and slipped out, almost waltzing casually toward the man who had entered. The fact that he'll agree, Sebastian… did not expect. The fact that he'll agree silently especially. But here we are – the great photographer Stefano Valentini's standing by the table with a menu in his hands, his cat's ears stick out of his head, and Sebastian's dashingly trying to drop obsessive thoughts about the waiter's uniform and dirty his hands in blood, continuing his difficult work.

 

It turned out that Stefano knows how to cook excellent coffee – but thanks heaven that was the only thing, ordered by the comer. From his pantry, Sebastian had been peering intently into his face but didn't notice any shadow of suspicion, which meant everything went well. Relatively, because yes, Seb destroyed all the evidences as best as he could – but paranoia, mixed with a sense of guilt, hadn't left him up to the car. In which Lily already woke up.

“Dad, Steffi, what took you so long?” She drawled, looking at the men. “And where are my donuts?”

Sebastian groaned and leaned back in his driver seat. Stefano bit his finger nervously and turned away.

“Start the car.”

“Aha,” Castellanos responded weakly, jerking the gearbox. “Sorry, baby, we'll buy donuts somewhere else.”

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes – Seb got a clear expression that she knew about the dead girl, Stefano's acting skills and papa's awkward thoughts on this point.

 

By nightfall, they had reached the next noshery, and there Sebastian forced everyone to go inside. This one was bigger and more active; Lily immediately took a table, leaving Castellanos and Valentini to order them – hungry – food. While the waiter boy was bringing them an order, leaving to wait at the counter, Stefano lubberly tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and touched Seb's hand with his fingers, making him jump and grab the pistol in the holster. However, when he understood what is what, Castellanos lowered his hand, trying to hide the embarrassment.

“What?”

The photographer rolled his eyes, bit his lip, but answered:

“Thank you for believing me today.”

And then that was the moment when the detective was taken aback. What did he mean, had he had a choice not to believe? Or the girl was innocent? The psychopath had arranged all this specially? And now he and Lily are in deadly dan- However, all Sebastian's thoughts carried away by a squall of wind when Valentini leaned forward for a second. It was not even a kiss – and of course not on the lips. A light peck on the cheek, like a cold reminder that had left on Sebastian's skin with a burning smear. Perhaps if Seb wouldn't stand still with the glass' eyes of a zombie, he'd waited for an explanation. But sharply shrank Stefano grabbed the tray with the order and rushed off to the side of their table.

Perhaps, Seb would never come alive again. If he hadn't heard a quiet coughing of the waiter behind him and his disgustingly “will you pay?”.

 

The next day, Lily smiled at the full, scribbling new drawings in her notebook.


End file.
